Lethal Poison
Lethal Poison is the fourth studio album recorded by American singer Rachel Woods. It was released on April 21, 2017, by Interscope Records. Woods described Lethal Poison as her "most real album" and an exploration of the "love in all its phases". It displays a darker vibe compared to her previous efforts. Woods collaborated with various producers on the record, including David Guetta, RedOne, Richard X and Pete Hoffman. Lyrically, Lethal Poison revolves around Woods' personal experience with love, going from the moment you fall for someone until the feeling dies. The release of Lethal Poison was celebrated with a TV special broadcasted on ABC. The album received positive reviews from music critics, and started off really strong on the charts, debuting at number one on the United States' Billboard 200 albums chart with first-week sales of 458,000 copies, becoming Woods' third consecutive number one record in the country. It also topped national record charts in many countries around the world. "Falling" leaked online on March 5, 2017, and was officially released as the lead single from Lethal Poison five days later. Despite being a commercial success, it received mixed reviews from critics. It was followed by "Poison", which was released along with the album. Woods promoted Lethal Poison with several television appearances and performances, but the album's campaign was canceled following its release because of medical orientation. Background and development Development of Lethal Poison began right after the Beautiful Sinner Tour ended. Woods wanted to step away from the urban sounds that were present on Revolution and Lilith, and go into a more electropop vibe. She called some European producers, such as Richard X and The Monsters and The Strangerz to help her with the new record and started writing and producing with them. In the middle of the process, Woods decided to ask David Guetta for some demos. "I love how the new album is turning out. It's really powerful, the songs are really strong. Right now I'm trying to find a big song to lead this record. I want something really upbeat, a club banger", she said in an early 2017 interview. Development of the album took almost a year to finish, and was made very carefully because Woods wanted it to tell a story from start to finish. Producers ans songwriters had to work together to make all the songs connect. Music and lyrics Critical commentary has noted Lethal Poison as an electropop and synth-pop album. Its electronic landscape was initially tailored for Lilith before Woods opted for adding some urban and r&b stuff reminiscent from Revolution. Critics stated the album was very classy with sophisticated productions. From start to finish Lethal Poison tells Woods' story, from when she fell in love with her ex-husband Gerard Piquet, going through their problems as a couple, and ending with their divorce. Release and promotion The release of Lethal Poison was announced on March 11, 2017, on the TV special Into My Mind and Soul on MTV. To promote the release of the album, Woods performed in several TV shows, and went to radio stations to concede interviews. On April 27, she performed on a TV special broadcasted by ABC where she performed four songs, with three being from the new album. Lethal Poison was also heavily promoted on Spotify, because of a deal that her former label Interscope Records got her. There was also a Fan Edition of the album including an exclusive leather box, the Deluxe album cd (plus the Japanese-released bonus track “Bad Bitch”) with alternate disc art, a 7” vinyl picture disc exclusive to this package, the “Falling” and “Poison” singles, and an exclusive poster. Almost one month later, on May 15, Interscope Records released a CD+DVD version of the album containing music videos for every song on the album, including the deluxe version ones. This version was supposed to be released at the end of the album cycle. Singles "Falling" was released as the lead single off the album on March 10, 2017. It was produced by David Guetta and was received with mixed reviews by critics and fans, who said the song felt like "something she would do on her debut album, just not cheap this time". However, "Falling" was a huge success reaching number one on iTunes in more than 60 countries in less than 12 hours. The song peaked at number one in the US Billboard Hot 100, and reached the top five in many countries on Europe, such as the UK, France, Italy and Germany. "Poison" was released as the second single on April 21, 2017, along with the album. However, it was performed for the first time five days earlier in a pocket show on Heaven Nightclub in London. It peaked at number three in the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one in the UK Singles Chart, becoming one of Woods' biggest hits in Europe due to the heavy promotion. Critical reception Lethal Poison ''received positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 73, based on 28 reviews. Keith Caulfield from ''Billboard commented that Lethal Poison is a "Woods in her best form to date." Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic commented that the album is the first where Woods sounds like a veteran musician since she first appeared. Alan Braidwood from the BBC commented that "this is the most cohesive album Rachel Woods has made and it's magic." Peter Robinson from Observer Music Monthly declared that the album ranks alongside Woods' other albums Revolution (2013) and Lilith (2015). Stephen M. Deusner from Pitchfork noted that with the album "Rachel reinvents herself, and it appears she's nearly lapped herself." According to Deusner, the music also makes her appear more mature. However, he felt that some songs could be easily cut off the album like "Body Shots" and "I'm Ready". Kelefa Sanneh from The New York Times called the album "exuberant." Joan Morgan from The Village Voice noted that "with Lethal Poison, Rachel Woods, at last, finds her musical footing. Easily will be the dance record of the year." Commercial performance Lethal Poison debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 458,000 copies sold in its first week, earning Woods her third consecutive number one album and becoming the second-largest sales week for a female artist in 2017, behind Lara Liwford's The Bible. The album has sold 860,000 copies in the United States as of August 2018, and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for reaching over a million stream-equivalent units. In Canada, the record entered the Canadian Albums Chart at number one with 75,000 copies sold, earning a double Platinum certification from Music Canada in its first week of sales for shipment of 160,000 copies. In 2017, the album brought worldwide sales of 2 million units according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), making it the ninth best-selling effort of the year. It went on to sell 2.3 million copies as of August 2018. The album's commercial performance has led numerous publications to state its promotion cancelation destroyed its way to becoming one of Woods highest selling records ever. Track listing Stardard edition Deluxe edition DVD and Blu Ray edition